A little over a year ago, I was shocked with the most painful news of my life. I was sitting on a train from San Diego en route to LA, and my father called from the Philippines to tell me that my mother had passed away. An electric shock sensation crawled down my spine and I started to wail on a train full of strangers. I was an ocean away, so far from my family that my mind could not register the painful reality. My mother had no debilitating or life-threatening conditions to the knowledge of myself and my family.

Life is a journey of self-discovery, on which we can either be our own best ally or our own worst enemy. It depends on whether we see ourselves through a critical or compassionate lens. It depends on whether we accept and believe the critical stories we tell ourselves or recognize and question them with gentle curiosity. So treat yourself like you’d treat your best friend, with comfort, empathy, and encouragement; ask yourself whether you want to be perfect or healthy? Superior or connected? And remember, we’re in this together.

"Happiness is inside of you, and you can achieve it anytime you like, no matter the outside circumstances." How many times have you heard this phrase? Although it sounds completely legitimate, it seems unachievable, at least to you. Most of us are like this. Here are the steps you can take starting today to bring more happiness in your life.

Thanksgiving is suffering from Middle Child Syndrome. Halloween rolls in like the younger sibling: full of charisma and charm, in full party-mode! Christmas, obviously the older sibling, looms responsibly tall, revered and sacred. Thanksgiving? Well...it's stuffed in the middle. Turduckenned.

I know that’s how I got through my undiagnosed celiac life. I was super focused on family, living by my mom’s example, and making sure everyone was healthy, a good person, and discovering the things that made them happy. That was my focus. It gave me this unbelievable strength. I could not fail, even when I was ill.

I am at this gorgeous new mall and I want to buy a new dress, but I can’t decide. Time is running out, I am getting late and I have to make it quick. Have you ever walked out of a store simply because you don’t know what to buy? Well then, welcome to the ‘don’t know’ block.

If someone had told me a year ago that I would be meditating twice a day and that it would be changing my life, I would have laughed. It’s not that I didn’t believe that meditation could work, I just didn’t believe that it could work for me. Last January, I was proven wrong.

At first, this title makes us feel like we’re entering a dark room. But I promise this darkness won’t stay for long, and by the end of the article, as our mind understands and gets comfortable with this truth of life, we will see bursts of light.

Which is worse, to lose someone you love to a long term illness or to lose someone you love unexpectedly? This morning I woke up to the news that a local five year old little girl, Avery, had passed away from a tumor in her brain on Mother’s Day. I had been following this family on social media for the last several months.

Now, the countryside gets a bad rep sometimes. Isn’t it just full of old fogies that love saying “Hello there” to random strangers? Or is it the bees, wasps and stinging nettles that put people off? Even so, I’m here, on Mental Health Awareness Week, to stand up for Mr Countryside. Because he helped me battle depression.